Strange noises... - Honda Forum / Acura Forum

wolly6973 · 05-19-2007, 01:05 PM

I have a 96 EX coupe. Recently a strange noise started coming from the front of the car. I think that it may be something like bearings. Here is what's happening. You can first hear it once you get up close to 40 mph, the faster you go, the louder it gets. It never changes pitch either. The noise doesn't change with rpm, and is still there when the clutch is depressed or when it is in neutral. It seems to have gotten louder lately. The car has almost 300k on it, and I don't think that the bearings have been replaced. Any ideas? Is this something that I could fix by myself? I am not a mechanic but I have common sense, a shop manual, and plenty of tools.
Thanks for any help.

honda crazy · 05-19-2007, 01:38 PM

bearings or cv axle

wolly6973 · 05-19-2007, 03:45 PM

Any way to tell which it is? Are they easy/cheap repairs?

HondatechAV6 · 05-19-2007, 04:03 PM

you can identify the bearing noise by using a mechanics stethoscope.

jack up the front end and support it on jackstands.

apply the parking brake.

start the car and put it in 3rd

drive about 45mph.

listen to each front knuckle where the wheel bearing is. you will hear the grinding if bad.

axle noise is more of a ratching tapping noise, not a roaring whurring noise.

you need to remove the knuckle to do the front wheel bearing/s.

wolly6973 · 05-19-2007, 09:26 PM

Listening to it on the road is more of the roaring whurring noise than a ratching tapping noise. While driving this evening I noticed that I could feel it through the gas pedal. I don't know if that helps. I also rotated the tires as it was time to do that anyways and that didn't change anything. I will jack it up tomorrow and let you know. Thanks.

wolly6973 · 05-20-2007, 11:34 AM

I just jacked it up and listened. I could not hear the grinding to indicate the bearings are bad. From outside the car by the knuckle almost all that I could hear was engine noise. I could definitely hear the whurring noise while I was INSIDE the car. I could still hear it somewhat on the outside, but it was not as prevalent. Is it still possibly the bearings or axle? Or is it something different now?

HondatechAV6 · 05-20-2007, 12:13 PM

did you use a mechanics stethescope?

did both sides sound the same?

wolly6973 · 05-20-2007, 01:37 PM

No I didn't use the mechanics stethescope. I thought that that was merely the method of jacking it up and listening. I will be going by AutoZone and I will see if they have one.

Both sides did sound similar, but it was hard to hear much over the engine.

HondatechAV6 · 05-20-2007, 02:24 PM

yeah, you need the mechanics stethoscope otherwise you can't hear a thing.

wolly6973 · 05-20-2007, 02:41 PM

I am just making sure about this... I assume that I am supposed to take off the wheels in order to get to the knuckle.

Also, when using the stethescope are there any special methods or do I just stick it on there and listen?

HondatechAV6 · 05-20-2007, 02:55 PM

no, you don't need to remove the wheels to listen for wheel bearing noise(in this case)

the stethoscope is just a long piece of metal with an ear piece. mine is about 12" long...ahemm....lol...

listen around the knuckle, for instance, around these 3 red dots.

no need to be exact, you just need to listen where the bearing resides inside the knuckle.

wolly6973 · 05-20-2007, 05:17 PM

Excellent diagram. Thank you. I had a listen and it sounded like a whurring noise kind of. It wasn't extremely loud and there was no grinding. It would be nice if I knew what it sounded like before as I have nothing to compare it to. Both sides of the car sounded the same. I suppose it is possible for the bearings on both sides to be bad. I ended up taking the wheel off anyways just so I could see better. After I took it off I could hear the noise much clearer.

HondatechAV6 · 05-20-2007, 05:45 PM

it is possible both wheel bearings are noisy. the noise is like a grinding/dull whurring. if you want compare the sound of the rear wheel spinning to the front. you'll have to spin it by hand, but it doesn't take much to make a bad wheel bearing make noise.

wolly6973 · 05-20-2007, 06:28 PM

If I were to compare it with another vehicle that is not a Honda, would that be a fair comparison?

StreetRacin101 · 05-21-2007, 07:01 AM

Quick question... does the noise go away or change when you turn the wheel to change lanes or take an exit, etc?